Sweet Geek Game of the Week Review: Blind Blades

Listen to the Sweet Geek Podcast while you read...

​What is Blind Blades?

• Blind Blades is a 2D Fighting Game Created by Heavy Key Studios.
• The Gameplay feels similar to Super Smash Bros.
• The concept is that there are only two colors on the screen, all white and all black.
• The same will go for the players, one is completely white, the other is completely black.
• The Map/Arena that you fight in is split up where parts of it are completely white and the other parts are completely black.
  • If the white player steps into a white area, they cannot be seen at all. If the white player steps into the black area, they can be seen. The same goes for the black player with its respective colors.
• The goal of the game is to kill the other player. The weapon used is a samurai sword, for players that look like samurais.
  • The game is one hit, one kill.
  • You have the ability to run, jump, roll, attack high, middle, low, straight upward, or straight down. You can duck/jump/roll to get out of the way of an enemy attack, but there is no block.
  • There is also a “Grenade” drop, that turns the whole map/area of the map completely the color of the user.
    • For example, if the white character used his grenade, the whole map would turn white, showing where the black character is.
    • Each player gets one grenade per match.
• There is 1v1, free for all, and team death match. To distinguish between players, there is color ribbon on them (Red, Blue, Yellow, Green) These colors only show if the player is in the color that they would need to be in to be seen.
  • For example, Player 1 is white with blue ribbon, Player 2 is black with red ribbon. The blue ribbon will only show in the black area, not in the white when the player is supposed to be hidden.
• The goal is to be a sort of hide and seek game where you can try and out smart someone to get the kill.

Notes From the Creators
​
​We reached out to the creators of Blind Blades, Jesse LaVigne and Thiago de Oliveira (Heavy Key Studios) to get their input on the game and ask them a few questions...
(Jesse LaVigne is in the middle)

The start up for this game began in Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington University to be exact...

We encourage you to download this game for $4.99!
​
Steam Download
Itch.io Download

• Question 1) What created the idea of Blind Blades?
  • Jesse LaVigne: "Blind Blades came out of a desire to make something active, something that felt alive and action-packed. One day Adam came in and said he wanted to do something more like the original Mario Bros. Suddenly we all started to vibe creatively. We could do an arena fighter game, a bit like Smash maybe. Then I recalled an episode of Samurai Jack which I had previously showed Adam and Thiago, Jack vs. the Ninja. In it Jack fights a ninja. The ninja hides in the shadows, and Jack hides in the light. I recalled telling them that someday we should make a game with a similar mechanic. It fit perfectly with the idea of an arena fighter, so we had our core game concept and we just worked on reinforcing it from there."

• Question 2) What was the goal for its creation?​
  • Thiago de Oliveira: "Originally a part of the Game Jam, so definitely the goal was to win the competition while delivering a fun game."

 

• Question 3) What were the difficulties in making Blind Blades?
  • Jesse LaVigne: "The two biggest difficulties were making the best possible mix of mechanics. What felt the best and what made sense for what we were going for. Would a straight up sword fight work? Parrying? Dueling? I ended up deciding that a one-hit-kill scheme made the most sense. After all, players attack each other from stealth. Those attacks need to feel impactful. They need to feel like they reward players for successfully being sneaky. Hence, every attack landed results in a kill. The second issue was making a proper arena to fight in. We needed to make sure there was enough of each color to make it so that no one side has an advantage."

​

• Question 4) What audience is the game for?
  • Thiago de Oliveira: "I think that anyone who enjoys a fighting game will have fun playing Blind Blades. It is especially fun when you have 3 friends and get into a all out battle."

​

• Question 5) Where does Heavy Key Studios plan to go after Blind Blades?
  • Jesse Lavigne: "The future for us is unclear. We love making things together, games most of all. We’ve been contracted to produce a mobile game based on a table top card game called “Pie Rats of the Carob Bean Farm”. We should be done with that this summer. From there, we will probably ramp up work on one of our many delightfully frivolous ideas. Whether we go after our silly helicopter arcade game for mobile or our ridiculous mecha fighting game with insane controls, we love making games for players because we’ve been players for years. Not only that, but working conventions has been a great way for us to build a personal connection to our players. We hope to bring them something new and thoughtful that will captivate their interest and bring out a smile next time we see them."

Bethesda E3 2019 Press Conference

Kingdom Hearts 3 New DLC Released...

​What Are Our Thoughts on Blind Blades?

• Blind Blades is an amazingly fun game to sit around and play at a party or with friends.
  • When I throw parties, I usually set up a gaming system or two specifically for fighting games like Smash Bros. Blind Blades fits perfectly into this category.
• The maps are really interesting and well designed. Not once do I feel like I am at a disadvantage for playing one color. Everything feels fair and skill based.
• One thing I would hope to see in the future or would like to have is different designs for characters. They all look like Samurai Jack (which was definitely the goal and done well) but giving the player the option to choose a different skin would be a cool thing to have for the future.
• The game has a clear concept and hits on it on every point. The game is very well designed on that note.
• The game is on Steam for $5, which is a really good deal for a game to play around with friends.

Sweet Geek Reviews ARK: Survival Evolved, Open Map Dinosaur Game...